Happy Oct. 31st!

Riley at 4 months young! Boy has he grown! He is still trying to master those long legs!
If you are new to my blog, scroll down to the first entry to see his picture at 8 weeks old.









ARRRRRR, matey!



















Abby, THE Alpha Dog! Riley fears her, but she is his hero! She knows all the cool things to do, like getting the end of a toilet paper roll and running! Nothing like having your house T.P'd by two dogs! They adore each other (-:

Presidential Election

This came from last weeks sermon at Amazing Grace Christian Church in Grove City, Ohio

Do you realize that regardless who wins - God always has 51%? By acting like we as people can actually “control” the elections is acting like God doesn’t have anything to do with it. God used a Donkey in the Bible to talk (often worded another way). So if God Can use a Donkey - he can use any candidate that would actually win our elections! If God wanted to take either of them out - with a snap of His fingers - it would be done!

So take a deep breath - remember who we are - remember who He is - and do your part and vote! Remember God always wins Majority! He is always 51%.

My crazy prayer was answered in the park today!

A couple of months ago, someone gave me a brand new pair of LL Bean Men's Tennis Shoes to take to the park. I decided instead of putting them out with all the other clothes items, I was going to pray over the shoes and ask God to bring the right person for the shoes to me. I was afraid if I put them out, someone was going to take them and sell them on the streets for alcohol or drugs. The shoes were still in the original packaging so it was obvious they were brand new. Those shoes have gone to the park with me each week but have not left the back of my Explorer...until today!
As we were about to start serving the food, a man walked up to me and asked me if I had any shoes. I asked him what size shoe he wore, and he told me a size 9,which is not a common size for a man's shoe. Guess what size tennis shoes were in the back of my car? I told him that I did and that if he was not in a hurry, I would get them for him as soon as we got done serving the food. He waited patiently on me as I continued to talk to everyone around me after the food was done.
When I brought the shoes to him, I told him the story about praying over the shoes and how I was waiting on God to give the shoes to someone. He started weeping. He shared with me how he had prayed earnestly this morning that God would supply him with some shoes! He just got a job 3 days ago as a painter. The shoes he had on his feet were very old and the soles on the bottom had totally split. He explained how he was scared to death that he was going to fall off the ladder while painting since the sole and shoe were in two pieces.
I love to watch GOD GO!


His name is Bill Wilson. Please keep him in your prayers. He has been blessed with a job this week, a new pair of shoes and a new hope in God!

Home From a Trip of a Lifetime

We made it home from Haiti late Saturday night after 18 hours of travel! Our travel going and coming from Haiti could not have gone smoother! Uneventful flying is always a good thing!


We stayed in Miami the night before we flew to Haiti. On the way walking to dinner, some in our group saw a homeless man sitting under the overpass. John and I collected 3 boxes of food from the Cuban Restaurant and took them to "E." While we were under the overpass sitting and talking to him, a police car showed up. Basically they stopped to move E's shopping cart full of his belongings out of view of traffic. When I asked why the cart had to be moved, they said that the president was about to come down the street. Ya, we would not want President Bush to see a homeless man in the U.S.A., right? E was a sweet man who had been on the streets for a long time. We made sure he knew Jesus, prayed for him, and then said our goodbyes.


Me and "E"

John and "E"


Driving from the small airport to the mission is always a culture shock. The poverty is indescribable. Pictures cannot make the Haitian's life real enough.

Our first full day in Haiti began with church! Going to church in Haiti is an all morning event! It was a morning full of singing... loud singing! The Haitian's put us Americans to shame when it comes to making a joyful noise unto The Lord! It does not matter if you can't carry a tune, just sing...loud! We were all blessed to worship the same God, even if we don't speak the same language! We broke bread with our Haitian brothers and sisters.

We spent the rest of Sunday sorting through all the donations a lot of you sent with our team. We had a ton of medical supplies and more than enough food for our team!

On Monday the mission was buzzing with excitement to start our week! I got to do devotions for all the people who work at the mission! What a cool way to start my day! After I got done with that, I headed to the minor surgery room. That was my assignment for the week. I got the awesome job of sharing Jesus with each patient and praying with them before their surgery! So after the first person accepted Christ, I explained baptism and asked the lady if she would like to be baptized. She said "Yes!" So I set off to find a pastor, only to find out there was not one at the mission at the moment. I did the only thing I knew to do. I grabbed my dear friend Jody, and asked her to help me baptize! It was one of the coolest moments of my life! That goes to prove that God can use the biggest of wretches! That was the beginning of a week full of decisions for Christ and baptisms!








On Thursday the generator went out for several hours so we took full advantage of leaving the mission and not feeling guilty! A bunch of us went to visit Sonel. He is a teenager we met last year. He fell out of a mango tree last summer and broke his back. He is now a paraplegic with a smile that will steal your heart! My good friend Pam, went to Haiti with me last year and fell in love with Sonel. She sent a suitcase full of Depends for him. Also donated for him was a DVD/CD player, movies, clothing and batteries for his blow up mattress. To sum up our visit with Sonel, he was on cloud nine for all the love shown to him!

How could you not fall in love with that smile?

From Sonel's, we went to the jail. We saw a man that had shown up to the mission earlier in the week to have a cut (and I use that word loosely, because it was HUGE and down to the bone), sewn up. He apparently got cut with a machete while trying to rob someone. There was another man in the cell with him and a lady in the cell next to them. We had a great time of testimony and prayer for all of them. The man with the cut, rededicated his life to Jesus! Afterward we gave them all a bunch of food we brought for them. However, the jailer would not allow us to feed them unless we fed him first! So, we fed him! It's all good!

As in my title to this blog, it truly was a trip of a lifetime! I did not want to leave on Saturday. God handpicked an amazing team to serve Him together. I am counting the days until I get to go back and love on the Haitians! They inspire me to rely more on God. That is all they have, and that is ALL they need!

We made it to Miami with no problems! After getting all our duffels (42) to our hotel we went out for Cuban food, Ready for our adventure!

Haiti Bound

I am headed back to Haiti on Friday and I can't wait to get there! From the time I signed up to go on this trip, I felt God was telling me that this time was going to be different. I was right. Haiti got hammered by Gustav, Hanna and Ike. It is pure devastation over there. The well at the mission got damaged in the storms and is not working properly. As of now, there are no showers allowed and no flushing of the toilets. Yet I am super excited! A different kind of breed, I am! You are probably thinking that I am insane, and you are probably somewhat correct!
Each day pictures will be posted on the mission website. If you would like to see what we are doing, here is the site;
http://nwhcm.smugmug.com/Trip%20Photos
Please keep our entire team in your prayers.

Unexpected Visit

I had a great friend call Thursday night and tell me she was headed to see me on Friday! Yippeee,!
As soon as she got to "The Hill" we went to the hospital to see her close friend. We had a nice visit and a great time of prayer for healing over Gene. After we left the hospital we headed to good ol' Target to hunt for "cute" boots for Jody to wear while in Haiti. No such luck. She will have to buy the "shrimpers" white boots! Poor Jody will not be able to compete with the, way fashionable boots, I have!
Saturday started early at Kristin's parent's house for breakfast! Man, this was my lucky weekend to see Jody and Kristin! I must be living right!
We then headed to church for our "Haiti Packing Party". Boy was there a ton of stuff donated for us to take on our trip! None of it will go to waste. Jody's medical knowledge was priceless as she prioritized the medical supplies.
Our short weekend (sad) together ended in a POWERFUL worship together at church. The music was off the chain! There was a pool set up for baptism at the end of the service. It was so cool to see so many take the plunge...no pun intended! I think there was around 190 people over the weekend baptized!
I had to say good-bye to my dear friend. But only, until this Friday..cuz we are headed to Haiti together!! Whoooo-Hoooo!

A day orchestated by God

I woke up this morning only to find that M. had tried to call me 4 times before the clock struck 9:00 a.m.! I was afraid that her phone card would have ran out and that I would not hear back from her. Nope, she called again! She told me she was trying to make good decisions today and that she was glad we were getting together. So, I called Pam, a.k.a. Louise, and we headed downtown to pick Megan up. So the adventure began.......

We went to lunch at a health food store and had one of their amazing sandwiches! Poor M., she was probably thinking, "Great, I get a free meal and we have to eat health food!" It was really nice sitting outside and just chatting. She shared a lot about her past. She showed us her scars from all the surgeries after she jumped off a 64 foot bridge. All I could think is about the plan God has for her life.

After lunch we went to the boarding house she wanted to move into. Ok, that was an experience, to say the least! Let me paint a picture for you. Can you imagine how it would look if 2 soccer moms were out looking to buy drugs? That is exactly what Pam and I looked like! We were in the back alleys trying to find the landlord to the boarding house. Interesting how many people just hang out in those alleys. But I do have to say, they were all very friendly! We finally got the guy's phone number and M. set up a meeting time for later in the afternoon. Wow, it kind of sounds like a drug deal!

Then we were off to where she and her ex-boyfriend lived to pick up her disability check . I was a little worried about going over there because he trashed the place before he got hauled off. I was so happy to see her reach into the mailbox and pull out the check! Thank you Jesus, because I did not have a back up plan if her money had not arrived today.

From there we headed to the liquor store to cash the check. Yet another shady experience, but went like clockwork!

We headed back to the boarding house to meet the landlord and get M's room. As she was getting out of the car, she informed us that it would be in our best interest not to sit in the car with our windows down. Up went the windows! The curiosity got the best of us because we wanted to see M's new home, so we took a deep breath, and ventured out! The room is supposed to be fully furnished but only had a mattress inside. The landlord promised that it would be furnished before he left for the day. I hope so.

Our last stop was dropping M. off at a friend's house. Her friend's brother was going to take M. to her "camp" site later on to get all her stuff. I don't think she wanted to take us to where she has been sleeping.

God was soo good today! There was not a hitch in our afternoon with M! He protected us in all the "iffy" places we visited today!

Please pray for a good roommate for M. Her room gets rented out with 2 people in each side.